Wilshere backs Wenger spending

Returning Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere insists boss Arsene Wenger has bought well in the transfer market this summer, despite the team’s below-par start to the season.

The England midfielder has backed his manager’s record in the transfer market this summer as the Gunners look to end their seven-year long wait for a trophy this season

The Gunners currently sit eighth in the Premier League table and are already 11 points adrift of leaders Manchester United after just 11 games.

Robin van Persie and Alex Song became the latest star players to leave the Emirates over the summer, following in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who departed a year earlier.

While striker Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, along with playmaker Santi Cazorla, were brought in during the summer to replace them, only the Spaniard has garnered universal acclaim.

But Wilshere is adamant the players Wenger has signed to replace his former key men do possess the qualities to keep Arsenal competing at the top of the English game, singling out Cazorla for high praise.

“It is strange because last time I played was with Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Robin van Persie,” Wilshere told the club’s official website.

“Now there’s the likes of Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and Mikel Arteta.

“The boss has done excellently. He’s bought well. These players are proper footballers – they understand the game and they’ve been around.

“To play with someone like Santi Cazorla is so easy. He understands football, even little things like the pace of the pass he gives you, and his movement is outstanding.

“You look at someone like Lukas Podolski, he’s got over 100 caps for his country.

“They’re top players and it’s easy to come into a team where they understand football so well.”